Blog Tour: The Blind - Author Interview with A.F. Brady

Today I am delighted to welcome author A.F. Brady to the blog for my stop on the blog tour for The Blind. This psychological thriller was published last week and today the author has stopped by for a Q&A:

Hi A.F. and welcome to Alba in Bookland. First, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hello! A little bit about me: I’m a 35-year-old New Yorker, and I work as a psychotherapist in my own private practice. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brown University and two master’s degrees from Teachers College at Columbia University in psychological counseling. The Blind is my first novel, and I am hard at work on my second. I live in New York with my husband, our son and our dog.

The Blind is your debut novel and the first reviews are saying that it is not only a very compelling story but also very twisted and dark, where did your inspiration for it come from?

The inspiration behind The Blind came from my years working in various mental health facilities throughout New York. The financial collapse in 2008 was disastrous for mental health care, the facility I was working at was suffering from extreme setbacks. It felt very difficult to maintain high levels of mental well-being during such trying times, and I felt like we must be crazy to work there, and think we could make a difference without enough clinicians, without enough time, and without enough financial support. From these thoughts, a story about a psychologist suffering from her own mental dysfunction was born. It was important for me to show a wider audience that no one has it all together, and we are all some combination of well and unwell.

You are a Mental Health Counsellor, how has your own job and experience influenced the main character, psychiatrist Sam James?

Aside from my experiences serving as the original inspiration for the character of Sam James, my years of working with patients helped to lend authenticity and clinical insight to the book. Although none of the patients featured in The Blind are real, many of the issues they’re suffering with are based in real problems I encountered in my career, so these are the issues that Sam is seen working with in her career as well.

What do you expect your readers to feel while reading The Blind?

I expect the readers will experience a host of emotions while reading. Fear, confusion, disappointment, sadness, excitement, satisfaction and joy. It’s a bit of a roller-coaster ride Sam is going on, and I hope the reader will jump in the seat next to her. I think people will be able to identify with her flaws and her struggles.

Lately, I have the impression that psychological thrillers are everywhere. What do you think makes The Blind stand apart from the crowd?

They are everywhere, and I think it’s because readers really like them! The Blind is different because it’s written by a psychotherapist, and the book is informed so much by reality.

Finally, can you tell us a bit on what we can expect from your next?

A small teaser into the next book: It’s another psychological suspense, and it follows a cutthroat Manhattan defense attorney named Peter Caine. He is in the middle of some huge transitions, and the reader will follow as he tries to make the change from a cold and uncaring brute, to a sympathetic family man. Only when he is accused of murder will we find out if people really do have the capacity to change their nature.

Blurb: Every morning, psychiatrist Sam James gets up at six forty-five. She has a shower, drinks a cup of coffee, then puts on her make-up.

She ignores the empty bottles piling up by her door.

On this particular morning, Sam is informed of a new patient’s arrival at Manhattan’s most notorious institution. Reputed to be deranged and dangerous, Richard is just the kind of impossible case Sam has built her reputation on. She is certain that she is the right doctor to treat such a difficult patient.

But then Sam meets Richard. And Richard seems totally sane.

Let the mind games begin.

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